Press Statement 4th June 2010.
Re: Hindraf submits formal complaint/Annual Human Rights Report to the Human Rights Council based in Geneva.
Urged UN to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the marginalized Malaysian Indians.
Hindraf Chairman P.Waytha Moorthy met Rapporteurs/ Senior officials at the United Nations Human Rights Council based in Geneva on the 31st May 2010 together with Hindraf representatives from Geneva, Bala Chelliah and Balan Rengasamy.
An annual Human Rights Report titled Human Rights Violations Against the Ethnic Minority Malaysian Indians was submitted to the Human Rights body to enable it to understand and take further action on the particular Human Rights violations against Malaysian Indians. We had also made a formal request for UN to appoint an independent Special Rapporteur on Malaysia to report the Human Rights violations against the ethnic Malaysian Indians to the Secretary General.
Other issues of serious concern discussed were as follows:
a) The systematic and State sponsored Institutionalised marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians.
b) The fate of over 300,000 (forgotten) Internally displaced persons belonging to the ethnic Malaysian Indian community who have been uprooted from the plantation/estates without compensation, training opportunities, compensation and planned relocation/resettlement.
c) The estimated 150,000 stateless Malaysian Indians including children who are unable to attend schools and avail to medical and other welfare/state benefits and seek decent job opportunities.
d) The arbitrary detention of Human Rights Defenders and Lawyers.
e) The manipulation of the majority UMNO led Government of provisions contained in Article 153 pertaining to the Special position of the Malays to exclude the rights of other legitimate citizens and the threat of violence on any citizens who question the Malay-Muslim domination and hegemony. f) The state control of Public and private bodies especially;
Malaysian Police
State Administration
Judiciary
Media
g) The denial of equal educational and job opportunities for Non- Malays.
h) The continuous attempt to prosecute and persecute Hindraf Lawyers especially P.Uthayakumar who is facing the prospect of a 3 year prison for writing a letter to the former UK Prime Minister on the “ethnic cleansing” of the Malaysian Indians. Uthayakumar has “served” 514 days without trial for the same “offence” during his ISA detention and now the Malaysian Government is targeting him again for this unknown offence.
We were assured that our complaints would be seriously considered and studied by the UN Special rapporteur on Contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Mr. Githu Muigai.
Hindraf also urged Country visit from the Rapporteurs for Freedom of Religion and the Human Rights Defenders.
As a further attempt to hold Malaysia accountable, Hindraf would lobby countries during its Human Rights Council sessions in future including the Israel and Germany, which strongly criticized and questioned the poor Human Rights record of Malaysia at the Universal Periodic Review in February 2009. Hindraf would lobby for members of the Human Rights Council to question Malaysia at its Human Rights review in 2011 on the unfulfilled promises and pledges Malaysia made during the periodic review in 2009.
P.Waytha Moorthy
Chairman
Hindraf.
HINDRAF MEETS UNHRC (U.N. Human Rights Council)
P. Waythamoorthy, the chairperson of HINDRAF on May 31, 2010 will be addressing numerous Human Rights representatives and rapporteour working in collaboration along with representatives of UNHRC in Geneva, Switzerland.
Aside from fact finding mission, these organizations regularly assess and verify violation of human rights issues and thereafter investigate, monitor and instigate appropriate solutions directly and indirectly on sovereign and member governments after receiving feedback from such organization that represents the marginalized and discriminated society.
In this closed session dialogue, HINDRAF will update and provide evidence to these international Human rights organizations on the continued discrimination and systematic marginalization of Malaysian’s in various forms such as education, economics,statelessness, Internally displaced persons, Religious Freedom, social and cultural practices in violation of basic Human Rights.
Waytha Moorthy would also be formally submitting Hindraf’s Annual Human Rights Report 2009 and seek ways/urge the UN body to request Country visit so that the body would be able to independently assess Malaysia’s gross Human Rights Violations. Cigma – an NGO from the Borneo has also approached Hindraf to help raise their plight with the UN.
HINDRAF having been present at the U.N. Universal Periodic Review previously will also highlight and press forward with UNHRC for the lack of effort by the UMNO led Malaysian government in addressing the persistent non-cooperation of Malaysia in protecting human rights for the Malaysian Indians in compliance of their obligation as a member of UNHRC in particular their inability to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR ) and International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of RacialDiscrimination (CERD).
HINDRAF pursues a goal that any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life should never be tolerated or condoned to for fear and favour. We, at HINDRAF is a people’s will and conscience, it is our modus operandi for the poverty stricken voiceless people for the truth and reality that they face in Malaysia.
Thank you.
R. Shan
HINDRAF International Coordinator
+16466378600
The students in the video answer the question from the press posed during the press conference in Penang on the 4th of June to highlight this issue of blatant discrimination if Indian students in education–
“How many Indian students are there who are affected”.. ?
Press statement by the Human Rights Party Malaysia
The Human Rights Party has called this Press Conference to bring to the attention of the authorities concerned and to the public at large, the dissatisfaction of the Indian community in the way the young of the community are being systematically denied opportunities for the JPA scholarships, for entrance into Public Universities and to the preferred Pre-University Matriculation program.
Prime Minister Najib keeps repeating that we are 1Malaysia, that we need to move out from middle income status to high income status, that the basis for affirmative action should be need and not race, and to increase the incomes of the bottom 40% of the population and so on in his Master Plan to take Malaysia on forward.
Now he needs to explain the dichotomy between his intentions and what is now happening on the ground . He needs to explain how we have these top performing Indian students being denied opportunities for:
1) JPA scholarships to do courses of their choice
2) Entrance to local Universities
3) Admission to the Matriculation Pre-university programs
It is the firm opinion of the Human Rights Party that these top Indian students are being denied their entitlement for the only reason that they are of the Indian community, a minority community in the country. Anyone who truly understand the processes of creating unity in any population knows that a unified population can only happen when fairness is felt in all affairs of life. Fairness, equality and equal opportunities are fundamental building blocks for building one nation. Besides, this is a fundamental right of citizens of any nation – the right to equality in all affairs of life.
And, that fairness must be felt in concrete terms such as in this case, in the selection of truly meritorious students for targeted higher education. When top performing students see their lesser performing peers getting scholarships, gaining admissions to the Public Universities and admissions to the preferred Pre-U Matriculation program, all semblance of fairness goes out of the window in one moment and with that any hope of a 1Malaysia. So, how can the unity envisioned in the 1Malaysia concept ever be attained. DS Najib, just what do you mean by 1Malaysia?
PM Najib talks about building a high income society. A high income society can only be built with a high performing citizenry
And that high performance can only come about in the citizenry by role models, by generally high expectations in society, in a reward system that is based on performance, by fairness in the system in rewarding high performance and by policies which truly nurtures high performers. It can never occur in a racially slanted systems, where criteria such as the race you are from or the colour of your skin or the religion you belong to, seem to be primary criterion. It can never occur in a system where the scales are permanently slanted like this.. ,So we ask, DS Najib, do you really understand this dichotomy, between intention and action?
PM Najib wants to institute needs based affirmative action as against race based affirmative action– today the Indians in West Malaysia are the most backward community among the 3 major communities. Any awards to the Indian community will be clearly justified on this basis. But the present selection of SPM students in no way reflects this policy. PM Najib wants to increase the incomes of the bottom 40% of the population. Many of these Indian students who have been denied the opportunities are from that bottom 40%. DS Najib, just what do you mean by all of this?
Year after year this same process repeats. Grossly biased selections of SPM students are made and the unfairly treated students and their parents vent their anger and frustration and then MCA and MIC put on an act of intervention and a few more students are added to the list and then it happens again the next year and so on. MCA and MIC attempt to be relevant with this wayang kulit. UMNO keeps the system going as is and a lot of hot air is spent in the process of press conferences such as these.
Why this hubris? Why do we not truly rise to the challenges of building a great Malaysia. Hubris gets us nowhere. We require a permanent and robust solution to this otherwise chronic problem of our society.
Apart from all of this, Malaysia seems to be the one of the very few remaining countries in the world that has an official discriminatory policy against its own minorities. Time has come for all these anachronistic policies to be abandoned and for us all to move on.
HRP demands that the entire process of selection be revamped to reflect fairness that is sorely needed in affairs of Malaysian life. HRP demands that this entire process be made transparent which includes the criteria for selection, the results of the selection, names of all those who applied, what they each scored according to the selection criteria, who were selected for the various programs and such relevant information. This can be posted in the MOE’s website.
Unless the Najib and UMNO led government picks up courage to do this and to make all such processes of the government transparent, the inevitable conclusion of the affected rakyat will be that Najib and UMNO just want to continue this ethnocentric system, just want to engage in rhetoric of 1Malaysia, and just want to get the votes, they do not really want to change the system to address the sorry state of the nation.
HRP will continue to highlight this problem till we see a permanent solution to it. We have arranged the following events and actions to highlight this issue for the current batch:
1) There is a petition campaign on line at the HRP website www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com. All are requested to download the form, get concerned people to sign it and then to fax it to the HRP headquarters at 03 22825245
2) On the 6th of June, all affected students are invited to attend a gathering at the HRP HQ on the 6th of June at 10..00am. The address is 6 Jln Abdullah, off Jln Bangsar, KL. Contact person is Mr. Sambulingam Tel: 010 2774 096.
3) On the 11th of June, affected students in the north are invited to a gathering at the Dewan Perbandaran Kulim , Kulim ( beside the Kulim Bus Station ) at 7.00pm. Contact Persons – Mr.Andy – 012-429-2817, Mr.Siva 013-440-4006, Mr.Ramu 012-444-2755, Mr.N.Ganesan 012-480-3284
4) If the Government does not satisfactorily address this situation as they have said by the 11th of June, a gathering is planned to show our continuing dissatisfaction at the Parliament Building on the 15th of June @ 11.00am. All fair minded Malaysians are invited. Contact person is Mr. Sambulingam Tel: 010 2774 096
You can also get more information at our website www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com.
N.Ganesan
Human Rights Party
Dear Sir/ Madam,
Request for a Scholarship/ Sponsorship
As regarding to the matter above, I am Karthik S/O Marapan. Currently I am in my first year in Multimedia University in Cyberjaya pursuing my degree in Analytical Economic.
I am actually facing a financial problem. In order for me to settle the payment to further up my study there concern a big amount of finance in which my family cannot afford, as there are three more siblings needed to be considered for the fees payment.
Eventually, I do give home tuition for survival on weekend to primary and secondary students near my housing area. However, the income gain is only sufficient for my monthly expenses. As regards to that I am unable to save the money to pay for the semester fees and sponsor my own studies.
On the second semester of my studies, I was barred from sitting for the exam because I was unable to pay my exam fees for that particular semester. My result slip for the previous semester also was block due to this reason. After writing few appeal letter to the exam board of MMU, than I was allowed to sit for the exam. My situation was very critical financially until I afford to make any payment.
As I was in my third semester, my father had passed away. This makes my current situation even worse because the main source of income in my family had stopped. Later on after few application of scholarship, yayasan sponsored me for the previous semester. They helped me to settle up my exam fees. That is the reason I barely able to survive until now.
. However, currently I do not have sponsored from yayasan. I am on my own. That is where I faced many problems. Recently, due to I was unable to shift out from the hostel on time because I do not have any other place to stay and I could not afford to rent any house nearby the University as it is expensive. As regards to that, all my belonging was thrown into garbage bin without I being informed about it. I lost all my important stuff such as books, cloths, and shoes.
Despite all the hardship that I faced I am still able to perform well in my studies. Throughout this three semester, my current CGPA is 3.52 and my latest semester result (GPA) is 3.87. I am a dean listed students so far. I had tried my level best to ensure that my critical financial situation does not affect my studies at all
I am in a desperate situation of receiving financial support from your side. I really hope you can give a due consideration to my current situation. Please help me out to support my education since this is regards to my future.
Sincerely, in truth all your cooperation will be appreciated. Thanks.
Re: Hindraf submits formal complaint/Annual Human Rights Report to the Human Rights Council based in Geneva.
Urged UN to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the marginalized Malaysian Indians.
Hindraf Chairman P.Waytha Moorthy met Rapporteurs/ Senior officials at the United Nations Human Rights Council based in Geneva on the 31st May 2010 together with Hindraf representatives from Geneva, Bala Chelliah and Balan Rengasamy.
An annual Human Rights Report titled Human Rights Violations Against the Ethnic Minority Malaysian Indians was submitted to the Human Rights body to enable it to understand and take further action on the particular Human Rights violations against Malaysian Indians. We had also made a formal request for UN to appoint an independent Special Rapporteur on Malaysia to report the Human Rights violations against the ethnic Malaysian Indians to the Secretary General.
Other issues of serious concern discussed were as follows:
a) The systematic and State sponsored Institutionalised marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians.
b) The fate of over 300,000 (forgotten) Internally displaced persons belonging to the ethnic Malaysian Indian community who have been uprooted from the plantation/estates without compensation, training opportunities, compensation and planned relocation/resettlement.
c) The estimated 150,000 stateless Malaysian Indians including children who are unable to attend schools and avail to medical and other welfare/state benefits and seek decent job opportunities.
d) The arbitrary detention of Human Rights Defenders and Lawyers.
e) The manipulation of the majority UMNO led Government of provisions contained in Article 153 pertaining to the Special position of the Malays to exclude the rights of other legitimate citizens and the threat of violence on any citizens who question the Malay-Muslim domination and hegemony.
f) The state control of Public and private bodies especially;
Malaysian Police
State Administration
Judiciary
Media
g) The denial of equal educational and job opportunities for Non- Malays.
h) The continuous attempt to prosecute and persecute Hindraf Lawyers especially P.Uthayakumar who is facing the prospect of a 3 year prison for writing a letter to the former UK Prime Minister on the “ethnic cleansing” of the Malaysian Indians. Uthayakumar has “served” 514 days without trial for the same “offence” during his ISA detention and now the Malaysian Government is targeting him again for this unknown offence.
We were assured that our complaints would be seriously considered and studied by the UN Special rapporteur on Contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Mr. Githu Muigai.
Hindraf also urged Country visit from the Rapporteurs for Freedom of Religion and the Human Rights Defenders.
As a further attempt to hold Malaysia accountable, Hindraf would lobby countries during its Human Rights Council sessions in future including the Israel and Germany, which strongly criticized and questioned the poor Human Rights record of Malaysia at the Universal Periodic Review in February 2009. Hindraf would lobby for members of the Human Rights Council to question Malaysia at its Human Rights review in 2011 on the unfulfilled promises and pledges Malaysia made during the periodic review in 2009.
P.Waytha Moorthy
Chairman
Hindraf.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) will be debating on whether to officially join the Pakatan Rakyat coalition at its three-day congress, which kicked off yesterday.
The Pakatan-friendly party has two seats - a state seat (Kota Damansara in Selangor) as well as a parliament seat (Sungai Siput in Perak) - which it won at the 2008 general election under the PKR banner as PSM had not yet been formally registered at the time.
The party has the distinction of finally knocking out long-time Sungai Siput representative and MIC supremo S Samy Vellu, when Dr D Jeyakumar finally emerged triumphant in his third attempt.
However, after years of trying to get its party officially recognised, which included a court battle, Malaysia's last remaining socialist party finally received the green light from the government two years ago.
At the congress, party delegates will also debate another motion which condemned Pakatan for using BN-style campaigning methods, especially in April's hotly contested Hulu Selangor by-election.
PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan (right in photo) said that while the party was critical of Pakatan's “BN-type fishing for votes”, he was quick to stress that the motion is not meant to damage Pakatan.
Arutchelvan described the motion as an honest recommendation to Pakatan so that the opposition coalition can perform better next time.
“Some of our people participated in the by-election campaign, and they feel it's important for us to criticise Pakatan on that matter,” he said.
At the April 25 by-election, Pakatan which controls the Selangor government had been accused of using the state machinery, among others, in the contest.
The PSM Nusa Jaya branch in Johor moved the 'join Pakatan' motion, while the Selangor's Subang branch submitted the other.
Arutchelvan added that of the 26 motions received by the secretariat to be debated behind closed doors at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, these two were the most “interesting”.
PR must resist capitalism
PSM president Dr Nasir Hashim, in opening the party's first congress in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, ticked off Pakatan for being too election-oriented. He argued that this possibly contributed to their recent Hulu Selangor defeat.
“Probably Pakatan is too election-oriented until it cannot move actively and aggressively after the unprecedented good result in the 2008 general election.”
“Or this loss merely meant the rakyat remains imprisoned in our racist, religion-based and (corruption-steeped) trap,” said Nasir (right), who is also the Kota Damansara assemblyperson.
If Pakatan failed to make amends, Nasir warned that the young opposition coalition will end up consumed by capitalism, which he said has become part and parcel of the BN.
Meanwhile, a group of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers confiscated about 50 PSM flags which were placed at the sides of the road outside the congress hall.
However, PSM managed to retrieve all the flags from DBKL later last evening, and had them reinstalled in their original locations.
KUALA LUMPUR: All the six National Key Result Areas (NKRAs), introduced to gauge government performance, have achieved the Key Performance Index (KPI) set, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said today.
The KPI was achieved following the adoption and introduction of bold and out-of-the-ordinary measures to realise the objectives of the NKRAs, he said in his speech at the investiture in conjunction with the birthday of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at the Istana Negara, here.
The government had introduced the six NKRAs in July last year to reduce crime, fight corruption, improve student outcomes, raise living standards of low-income households, improve rural basic infrastructure and improve urban public transport.
"Alhamdullilah (Praise be to God), all the six NKRAs have achieved the Key Performance Index or KPI set," he said.
Elaborating, Najib cited how members of the People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) and Department of Civil Defence had been deployed, along with the policemen, to conduct patrols to achieve the objectives of the NKRA on crime reduction.
Besides, he said, more than 7,000 police officers and men working in the office had "returned" to their core duty to be close with the people, while their task at the office was carried out by more than 4,000 civil servants.
Under the NKRA to reduce crime, the KPI set was to cut crime by 5% and street crime by 20% by the end of this year.
Safe, peaceful environment
Due to the measures adopted and implemented, it was encouraging to note that in the first quarter of this year, the crime index had dropped 15.1% while street crimes were down by 39.6% compared to the corresponding period last year, he said.
"Hopefully, the efforts to establish a safe and peaceful living environment for the people will achieve their objective," he said.
Najib also said that besides the initiative associated with the role and functions of the government through the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), the government had also introduced the initiative with regard to the economy through the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to ensure that the national vision could be realised as scheduled.
Under the ETP initiative, the government had formulated the New Economic Model (NEM) as the direction for two Malaysia development plans, the 10th and 11th, which were the final bridges to cross for Malaysia to realise its Vision 2020 objective of becoming a developed nation, he said.
He said the government would carry on implementing measures to ensure unimpeded sustainable growth and had begun to introduce initiatives to improve the government's financial position.
Najib said there was a need to increase the government revenue while expenditure had to be carried out with prudence in a way that provided for maximum impact on the people.
"In this matter, the government holds steadfast to two key principles to realise the objective: we will not burden the future generations and will continue to discuss with the people and understand their aspirations when making any decision in accordance with the 'people first' philosophy," he said.
Najib said the government would never neglect its responsibility of leadership and would not avoid making difficult decisions in situations where these were felt appropriate to keep Malaysia on the right trajectory.
"Hopefully, history will tell that the leadership of today was a responsible generation, which did not waste away the responsibility it shouldered nor leave behind a weak nation for the next generation of leaders.
"We want the next generation to inherit a Malaysia of high standing and self-esteem, respected by both friend and competitor,” he said.
Onward journey
Najib said that the government paid attention to national unity because it realised that unless there was strong national unity it would be impossible to achieve the desired national vision.
"It is in this connection, through the '1Malaysia: People First, Performance Now' concept as the key guide of the government, various initiatives and policies have been, are being and will be drawn up for the benefit of the people," he said.
The prime minister said Malaysia drew strength as a competitive nation from the constant efforts it took to be ahead of the contemporary curve, and added that the government was determined to continue with strategies proven effective.
"In carving the onward journey of transforming Malaysia into a high-income developed nation, the government will not adopt a dogmatic attitude and will cast aside the belief that only the government knows best," he said.
Najib also said that efforts to create a better future for the people had begun to bear fruit.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2010, for example, had shown a most encouraging growth of 10.1%, he said.
Furthermore, he said, the country's competitiveness at the global level had improved as well, with Malaysia moving up from 18th position last year to 10th this year in the ranking of the World Competitiveness Report 2010.
The prime minister said the government was determined to have Malaysia occupy one of the top five positions on the global competitiveness list.
"We cannot be idle and let the chance slip away. It is important that we work hard to achieve the objective," he said. - Bernama
By Ori Lewis UPDATED JERUSALEM: The Israeli navy intercepted and was shadowing another ship bound for blockaded Gaza carrying aid and activists today, five days after the bloody seizure of a Turkish ship triggered an international outcry.
A spokeswoman for the Free Gaza group backing the Rachel Corrie, and a journalist aboard the vessel quoted by Al Jazeera, said warships were following the Irish-owned freighter.
"We can see some Israeli ships a little away from us. They are following us, there has been no contact," the journalist quoted by the station said an hour or so after dawn.
Activists' contact with the ship was patchy, spokeswoman Greta Berlin said, adding that it had been some 55km (35 miles) west of Gaza.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said she had no information.
Israel has said it would not let the ship through to its intended destination in Gaza. Berlin said those on the Rachel Corrie would not accept earlier Israeli offers to dock at Israel's Ashdod port and have the supplies sent on over land.
Israel says its blockade of the Gaza Strip, tightened after Islamist Hamas seized the enclave from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction in 2007, aims to keep out arms.
In Washington, the White House said Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip was unsustainable but urged the Gaza aid vessel to divert to an Israeli port to reduce the risk of violence.
"We are working urgently with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and other international partners to develop new procedures for delivering more goods and assistance to Gaza," Mike Hammer, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said yesterday.
"The current arrangements are unsustainable and must be changed. For now, we call on all parties to join us in encouraging responsible decisions by all sides to avoid any unnecessary confrontations," Hammer said in a statement.
The Irish-owned Rachel Corrie is a converted merchant vessel bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after an American woman killed by an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003.
Yesterday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: "We will stop the ship, and also any other ship that will try to harm Israeli sovereignty. There is no chance the Rachel Corrie will reach the coast of Gaza."
The Israeli military declined to give prior details of what it planned to do in the event the navy had to intervene.
In Dublin, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said in a statement: "Those on board the Rachel Corrie have indicated that they are ready to accept inspection of their cargo at sea, prior to docking in Gaza." Gunshots at close range
Autopsy results on the nine dead Turkish activists from Monday's raid showed they had been shot a total of 30 times, many at close range, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported today. Five were killed by gunshots to the head, it said.
Turkish-American activist Fulkan Dogan was shot five times from less than 45cm (18 inches) away, in the face, the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back, the paper said.
In addition to those killed, 48 others received gunshot wounds and six activists were still missing.
In his angriest rhetoric yet, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused the Jewish state yesterday of violating its own biblical commandments.
"I am speaking to them in their own language. The sixth commandment says 'thou shalt not kill'. Did you not understand?" Erdogan said in a televised speech to party supporters.
"I'll say again. I say in English 'you shall not kill'. Did you still not understand?. So I'll say to you in your own language. I say in Hebrew 'Lo Tirtzakh'."
Turkey, Israel's only Muslim ally, has threatened to rethink its entire relationship. Thousands of protesters sang Turkey's praises at demonstrations in Egypt and Lebanon yesterday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a forum of senior ministers yesterday to discuss the arrival of the Rachel Corrie and actions to be taken following the international criticism Israel faced after Monday's events.
A foreign ministry statement said Israel wanted to avoid confrontation and invited the Rachel Corrie to dock in Israel's own port of Ashdod, where its cargo could be unloaded, inspected and transferred to Gaza if it contains no contraband.
"We in Israel have no desire for confrontation... If the ship decides to sail to the port of Ashdod in Israel, then we will ensure its safe arrival and will not board it," foreign ministry official Yossi Gal said.
"Israel is prepared to receive the ship and to offload its contents and after an inspection to ensure that no weapons and/or war materiel are on board, we are prepared to deliver all of the goods to Gaza." - Reuters
KOTA KINABALU: Pakatan Rakyat will treat Sabah as an equal partner unlike the Barisan Nasional which is taking the state for granted as a mere fixed deposit.
Two young guns of PKR -- Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and Seri Setia Assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad -- also assured that despite coming from Peninsular Malaysia, the Pakatan leaders are not here “to order Sabahans around”.
Nurul Izzah said Pakatan has so much to learn from the people of Sabah for their ability to live in harmony together although they are of different races and religions.
“We remain in admiration of Sabah's racial integration and we have a lot to learn from Sabah and Sarawak. I think this is something that should not be underestimated.
“People in Sabah are Sabahans first and I think this is something that Malaysians as a whole should emulate,” said Nurul Izzah after a dinner gathering with Sabah PKR leaders organised by its Putatan division here last night.
According to Nurul Izzah, she and Nik Nazmi came to Sabah to lend support to PKR Sabah, as they represent the voice of the new generation of PKR leaders who would do their best to ensure the opposition wins in the next general election.
She said they would also be having small-scale meetings with young professionals in Sabah during their stay here.
Also known as Puteri Reformasi (reformation princess), Nurul Izzah said among the issues that PKR would be struggling for the people in Sabah was to ensure the state’s own natural resources are used to improve the quality of their life.
“The beauty and richness of the country cannot be plundered by a few robber barons... everyone must join in the fight to save Sabah and ensure the people here take what is rightly theirs,” she said.
“This is my first trip to Sabah and it is a learning process for me... I have heard a lot of good things about how Sabah residents could live in harmony much better than we do in the peninsula,” said A mature party
Nik Nazmi, who is also the political secretary to Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim.
He said that PKR viewed Sabah and Sarawak differently because it has much to learn from the people in these two states.
At the same time, he said PKR would want to treat them as genuine partners in nation-building “and not just take them for granted as fixed deposit like the BN does”.
Nik Nazmi said PKR was facing many challenges and may have teething problems but it also wanted to show that it is a mature party, with many potential young leaders like Nurul Izzah, the daughter of PKR de facto leader, Anwar Ibrahim.
He added that the record in the peninsula showed that those who continued to remain loyal to the party were the young leaders.
“We want to show this is a party for the future, a party that fights for all, a truly Malaysian party where everyone can be genuine members,” he said.
He also said the reason PKR held its national congress, which coincided with the Kaamatan Festival in Sabah and Gawai in Sarawak, was that the party had to fulfil the requirement of its constitution. It must hold its congress within 18 months from the previous one, which was in December 2008.
“We try to find the right time but with so many by-elections and so many different things cropping up, we had to hold it [national congress] on that date available to us,” he said.
“It is easy if you are a party representing only one race like Umno – it will avoid holding its general assembly during Hari Raya; likewise, the MCA will not hold its assembly during Chinese New Year. But PKR represents all Malaysians and so we have festivals all-year round... we have Wesak, Gawai and Kaamatan but we had to hold our congress [on that chosen date] because of the requirements of the constitution,” he said. (PKR's sixth three-day national congress began on May 28.)
Nurul Izzah said the one lesson that could be learnt from the last general election was that there was no straight fight between Pakatan and BN in Sabah.
“So this is something we must learn to ensure that in any general election only one Pakatan candidate will contest against BN in all constituencies,” she said.
PKR vice-president Jeffrey Kitingan, who was also present, said the party was looking at a strategy to get all the opposition parties into Pakatan.
“If we can do that, then we can have a one-to-one [fight with the BN] and I think this is possible,” he said. Cohesive unit
Nurul Izzah said that Pakatan component partners -- DAP, PAS and PKR -- were becoming a very cohesive unit as shown in the recent Sibu by-election.
“PAS especially went on a house-to-house campaign, which has never been done previously. There has been a level of acceptance of Pakatan as a force, so all we need is to strengthen it to prepare for the next general election,” she said.
Earlier, in her speech, Nurul Izzah said it was clear now that PKR through PKR Sabah is a party that fights for all Malaysians.
“Our party was attacked relentlessly... when Anwar was jailed, PKR was accused of fighting only for Anwar and had neglected Sabah and Sarawak,” she said.
She also said that PKR should take stock of its position and not keep pointing the fingers at BN for the defection of its MPs.
“It is easy to keep on blaming the BN... we are not 100% perfect ourselves… we must take stock [of our position,” she added.
Nonetheless, Nurul Izzah said she had seen with her own eyes in Parliament how (opposition) MPs were being induced with money.
“I say if you want to leave, you can leave... but [looking ahead] we have to close ranks and foster the spirit of togetherness”.
Nurul Izzah, who defeated Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil in the last election, said together with Nik Nazmi they believed it was time for the younger generation to take the lead in party.
“We thank the senior leaders for willingly giving way to us because nobody will be able to hold on to power forever, including the BN,” she said.
She said it was time for the people in Sabah to know that PKR is party that fights for the rights of all Malaysians.
“There is no question of 'parti semenanjung' [peninsular party]... this is the party that struggles for all the people in Sabah, Sarawak and the Peninsula,” she added.
Nurul Izzah said Keadilan members must remain committed in facing the challenges ahead.
She added that there is no place for arrogant leaders who don't care about the views of the rakyat.
Also present at the function were PKR Sabah liaison chief, Ahmad Thamrin Jaini, and PKR Putatan division chief, Awang Ahmad Shah.
SHAH ALAM: The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the Ladang Glenmarie Tamil school has lodged a report against the school's headmaster over his rude and dictatorial manner.
Matters came to a head when a confrontation broke out between parents and the headmaster S Manogaran over his refusal to allow parents to enter the school grounds.
PTA head N Nadarajan, accompanied by parent R Susila, lodged a report against the headmaster at the District Education Office here, listing out the various complaints from parents.
“There was no problem until Manogaran was transferred here a year ago,” said Susila. “He gives all sorts of excuses to bar us from entering the school compound. That's is why the fight happened.”
Susila said parents wanted to enter the school to give home-cooked food to their children. She alleged that the quality of the canteen food was stale and unfit for consumption.
“How can the school serve such food to the children?”she asked. “We complained to the headmaster and since then, he banned us from coming into the school.”
She related another incident in which, after receiving a verbal complaint about the canteen food from an upset parent, the senior assistant of the school retorted: “Well, your child hasn't died, right?”
Susila also alleged that Manogaran once ordered a 10-year-old boy to clean a toilet cubicle before he (Manogaran) had wanted to use it.
“The boy's shoes and clothes were soaking wet,” she claimed. “These are the things that are happening at this school. And the teachers warned the students not to tell their parents.”
“When we confronted Manogaran, he told us that he is the headmaster and everything lies in his hands. It's a small school but he behaves like it's an international college!”
Problematic parents
When contacted, Manogaran denied that a “fight” had taken place and was perplexed as to why such a report had been made.
“But let them make a report if they want,” he told FMT. “These parents are always creating problems. This school is very transparent and I'm not the least bit concerned.”
However, he added that he would take legal action if investigations showed that the allegations are baseless and that the school already has a lawyer in anticipation of such incidents.
So, what really did happen aboard the MV Mavi Marmara?
At the present moment, there exists two versions to this botched attempt by Israeli marines to hijack this vessel on high seas – the Israeli version and of course the MV Mavi Marmara version. The Israeli version comes in the form of recorded events at the time the marine rappelled into the boat. The MVMM version is testimonies from the people on board the boat.
Which version should you choose to believe? The pertinent question should however be, “what and who is exactly behind this humanitarian effort and what were their intentions?”
The MVMM flotilla is sponsored by Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH - The Foundation of Humanitarian Relief or Islan Haklary Ve Hurriyetleri Vakfi in Turkish) of Turkey, which is an organization under the direction of Saudi-based Ittilaf al-Kheir (Union of Good). The former is NOT listed on the United States State Department's list of terrorist organizations but the latter is identified as having amongst its hierarchy a major financier who is also a known terrorist. Union of Good is chaired by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who is best known for his religious ruling that encourages suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. Another leader in Union of Good is Yemeni national Abd al-Majid al-Zindani, an Al-Qaeda supporter. The MM flotilla consists of 6 ships and Ittilaf al-Kheir is a known terrorist organization.
The Union of Good has direct links to Hamas and uses another organization (al-Salah Society) under their tutelage to sponsor Hamas. The al-Salah Society is an organization that compensates the family of all suicide bombers. The Turkish government has in fact banned IHH a decade ago from contributing to the earthquake relief because of its terrorist ties, but that was 10 years ago and the central government has long since changed. How is it then that an organization that was labelled as having ties to terrorism is now exempt from that fact even though the hierarchy has never changed?
Another organization under the Union of Good is the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) that is known to be one of the major financiers for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Others include the Al-Aqsa Islamic Charitable Society of Yemen headed by Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad, who was also the spiritual adviser for Osama bin Laden, but was arrested in Germany for providing monetary aid to Hamas. Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad later confessed that he had funded US$20 million to Osama prior to the 9/11 attacks. Yet another organization under the Union of Good is the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, whose leaders Adel Hassan Hamed and Mammar Ameur are now incarcerated in a Pakistani jail for having direct ties with the Taliban.
Now let us look at the blockade. By reading the local papers, one would only get a general view and that the Israelis are singularly involved in this blockade. What was never revealed was that the Egyptians are also involved directly and the US Navy to a lesser extent.
In 2009, the Russian owned merchant ship, Monchegorsk was boarded by the US Navy and later seized by the Cypriot authorities. A thorough search of the ship revealed that they were carrying armaments and missiles bound for Gaza. The initial information was relayed from the Americans to the Egyptians and to the Cypriots. The ship was tracked by satellites once it left the Iranian Port of Bandar Abbas and shadowed by a US warship (Task Force 151) when it was in the Gulf of Aden. The 98 containers are thus confiscated and are safeguarded by Cyprus.
Coming back to the flotilla, was it ever reported that before the boarding, the Israelis offered to allow the flotilla to land at the Israeli port of Ashdod and ship its cargo of humanitarian aid to Gaza overland after appropriate security inspection? Was it also ever reported that the flotilla rejected the proposal outright and tried to run the gauntlet?
Alternately, the storming of the ship was never a legal action even when the Israeli Marines were initially armed with paintball rifles. That the passengers were defending themselves was never a question. That the usage of kitchen knives and clubs were intended to intimidate was also never a question. These are people who have been sent aboard by an organization that has ties with a terrorist organization whose leader encourages suicide attacks on all Israelis. It cannot be said that all the passengers were from such organizations but it only takes a few to start the provocation and that is all the excuse the Israeli marines required.
Oh, by the way, according to the United Nations Middle East envoy Robert Perry, “…there is no humanitarian problem in Gaza... there might be occasional shortages of construction materials and other goods…”
If the words of Robert Perry can be trusted and that the flotilla did not mean to stop, it could only indicate that it was a transparent provocation but yet the IDF fell for the trap. In short, the Israelis underestimated the response from the people on board MV MM and the results are for all to see. What was exactly the goal?
If one were to look at the facts, why use IHH to organize the flotilla? The one and only target was to split the Israel-Turkey-US alliance. For those uninformed, Islamic-Turkey is Jew-Israel’s ally as much as it is America’s. Together, these three nations held back Iran’s ambitions. Nowadays, Obama is shying away from the Middle East problems and this latest fiasco splits the remaining two alliance partners. Iran has just been handed free rein to do as it please and the Saudis and Egyptians will not be too pleased with that fact. Is this a prelude to war?
Who benefited the most from this debacle? Hamas has now achieved a major propaganda coup against Israel without lifting a finger and Iran benefited as the vote for a new UN Iran sanctions resolution was postponed.
In Malaysia, the politicians just seem to politicise everything. Someone wins a gold medal, they rush to give awards. Someone arrested in Vietnam for drugs, some youth wing will rush to 'save' the accused.
It is just sickening. Instead of focussing on administering the country, these politicians take the easy way out by just making sure they are seen to do things, things which really, dont necessarily improve the country.
Take Najib's visit to SS2 PJ on Wednesday. Our PM so confidently declare that people of SS2 feels safer. Is he talking cock, or is he just a plain idiot?
SS2 and for that matter, the entire PJ and Klang Valley is like the wild wild west of US. The robbers/thieves/rapists etc are roaming around so freely. People write on blogs, tweets etc on how they were robbed/mugged etc. Houses broken in broad day light. Cars stolen every day. Motorbikes stolen everyday.
And yet this PM 'declares' that the people in PJ feels safer. You can see this news in the Sun.
Why dont he let his daughter walk around SS2 without the hordes of police escort. Why dont he come stay at one of the houses in PJ and see how many locks we put on our grill door. Why dont he ask his wife to walk along the street in SS2 with her hand bag around her elbow, lets see how long before a snatch thief comes along.
And I read about lesser police reports made in PJ, as a statistic to support lesser crime.
Again, is our PM an idiot? People in PJ dont want to report to the police cause these police idiots dont do anything. We will always get the usual answers from the idiots at the police station:-
1. "Oh, ini kes sivil"
2. "Alamak, in salah balai lah"
3. "Sabar, kami tak cukup orang"
4. "Kami susah, sebab kamu rakyat tak nak tolong kami bagi informasi" (even though it is the police's job to gather intelligence, or else why the f**k we have a Special Branch for?)
So, please, please dont politicise the issue of security. We who live in PJ dont get to enjoy our life. We live with concerns. Cnncerns that tomorrow, one of our loved ones maybe the next one hit by a criminal. Our life is like a russian roulette. You never know, we may be the next to get hit by the bullet (of that bullet thing sounds deja vu).
Really, I really cant wait to vote Najib and his entire Government out.
I remember watching video clips and reading reports of the probing investigation conducted by the Selangor legislative assembly select committee on competency, accountability and transparency (Selcat) into the spending by the Khir Toyo administration and remarking to someone that perhaps MACC could learn a thing or two about getting at the truth.
Then, the select committee appeared to be armed to the teeth with facts and figures to allow for some very effective examination of state civil servants who went before the committee.
I fear now that I may have spoken too soon. Malaysiakini reported yesterday that Selcat chairperson YB Teng Chang Khim announced, after three days of public hearings, that there was no evidential basis to support the allegations of corruption against the state government-owned sand mining company, Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd. “All we have is one person claiming that there is a demand made by someone else. And it is unfair for the person who was complained against (since the claimant has not acted further). So where is the scandal? I never saw any scandal,” he told a press conference after today’s hearing ended this afternoon. At the moment (these complaints) are just contract issues. These are to be determined by the courts, not by us”, Teng is reported to have said.
Let’s be fair and see this conclusion in a fuller context.
On 18th May, 2010, Selcat announced that it would hold a public hearing into allegations of corrupt practices by KSSB, from 2nd to 4th June, between 10am to 1pm on each day.
The first thing to note is that if the committee had indeed kept to the time allocated to this public hearing, the entire investigation was concluded in 9 hours.
Let’s not be misled by the reported ‘three days of public hearings’.
The scope of the intended public hearing can be discerned from the following statement of Darren Ong, the private secretary to Teng : “Selcat will investigate the matter from theadministration aspect to determine if there were weaknesses in administration which must be addressed and improved by the state government to ensure that KSSB adheres to the policies and instructions of the state. Selcat hopes that all parties would grant their full cooperation during the public hearing and present relevant documents to expedite investigations“ .
I cannot help but observe that there is no mention whatsoever about looking into the allegations of corruption.
The second observation I will make is that Selcat expressed the hope that all parties would fully cooperate and present all relevant documents to make for an expeditious investigation.
All this has been captured in the Malaysiakini report dated 18th May, 2010.
Two days before the commencement of the public hearing, YB Manikavasagam, at a press conference at his office, released a video recording taken by a former KSSB contractor, Zahar Rusuli, of alleged illegal sand-mining operations being carried out in Rasa, Hulu Selangor.
Zahar, too, attended and spoke at the press conference.
Both Malaysiakini and FreeMalaysiaToday reported on this press conference and the revelations made, but I would urge you to give the second report mentioned a close reading.
I want to reproduce the following explanation Zahar gave of the video recording he had made, as reported in FreeMalaysiaToday.
Zahar explained that in January, he went to the site where alleged illegal sand-mining was taking place, armed with a video camera and took footage of the operations going on. “By a stroke of luck, I suddenly realised that officials from KSSB and the land office were also present at the area, so I filmed them entering their vehicles. The workers later told me that the officials had met privately at the site’s cabin inside the area.”, Zahar said. “I sent the copy of my video to the menteri besar’s office, KSSB and also the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). I have since received two threats from people who were hired by Alex and another person called Dr Zul.” , Zahar added.
YB Manikavasagam has the following video clip on his blog. A phone call to him yesterday confirms this is the same video clip that was disclosed at the press conference.
I think the video clip does appear to bear out quite a bit of what Zahar said and does give rise to serious questions about the possible involvement by state civil servants in corrupt practices involving sand-mining.
Certainly, it warrants an investigation.
Watch the video clip and judge for yourself.
Let’s turn now to the public hearing conducted by Selcat from 2nd to 4th June.
On day 1, the committee quizzed Selangor cabinet member Yaakob Sapari, KSSB non-executive chairperson Abdul Shukor Nagor and Selangor Land and Mining Department director Abdul Nasir Hassan. You can read about the day’s proceedings in Malaysiakini HERE.
Day 2 saw the committee quizzing Abdul Shukor again, this time on the huge amount of bonuses that the state-owned KSSB had paid its directors and employees.
Malaysiakini’s report on the second day’s proceedings can be read HERE.
That Malaysiakini report also quotes Manikavasagam as saying that he had obtained more documentary evidence implicating KSSB in the alleged corruption, more witnesses had come forward, including three KSSB contractors and two staff members, and that he would apply to the select committee on the last day of hearing to have the testimony of these witnesses presented. “I am satisfied so far, but I think the hearing should be at least a week longer to hear the testimony of the witnesses who can nail the case against KSSB” , Manikavasagam is reported to have said.
Manikavasagam did in fact attend the final day’s proceedings yesterday.
Another Malaysiakini report yesterday on the final day’s proceedings suggests that the same was fiery.
I quote from the report : “Tempers flared and voices were raised today when Manikavasagam insisted on calling his “witnesses” to testify before Selcat, while Teng maintained that they would first have to submit their written statements” .
“We have written to you to provide written statements from the witnesses so that they can be called. And you never even did it. This is a select committee of the state legislative assembly. You cannot just parachute in witnesses at any point of the hearing. You have to follow the Standing Orders. Or else this committee will be a laughing stock of the entire country” , Teng shot at Manikavasagam.
“There should be no cover-up. You have to call the witnesses” , Manikavasagam countered.
The Malaysiakini reporter describes Manikavasagam’s evidence as having ‘failed to impress Teng’ and comprised of a statutory declaration from one of his witnesses alleging price discrepancies, evidence of cheque transactions and an anonymous letter allegedly by a KSSB staff.
Let’s say she was right.
Let’s say Manikavasagam’s evidence was pathetic.
He, however, wanted to produce other witnesses to testify before the committee.
Teng wasn’t having any of this.
Manikavasagam, it seems, had been asked to provide written statements of those witnesses and he hadn’t.
Had not Teng or any of the other committee members seen the news reports of the press conference held by Manikavasagam on 31st May?
The video clip?
Zahar’s statements during that press conference?
Only the select committee members can shed light on these questions.
Did Teng or any of the other select committee members inquire as to the nature and purport of the evidence that would be tendered by those witnesses, if called?
Nothing in the Malaysiakini report suggests that they did.
What is reported, though, is that Teng was firm in insisting that the written statements that were requested by the select committee of those intended witnesses was required by Standing Orders of the state legislative assembly.
I made a few phone calls to a number of Selangor Aduns. None could categorically confirm if the Standing Orders necessitated such as was insisted by the select committee.
Had the witnesses on day 1 and day 2 all given prior written statements before they were called to give evidence?
Select committee members and the witnesses can confirm this.
What I had confirmed to me yesterday by someone who had recently testified before another select committee was that this person did so without having to first furnish a written statement to the select committee in question.
Let’s take stock again of the context in which Teng has declared that following upon due inquiry by the committee, there is no evidence to support the allegations of corruption against KSSB.
The announcement of the intended hearing clarified the same to be, not about allegations of corruption, but to investigate ‘theadministration aspect to determine if there were weaknesses in administration’ .
On day 1 and day 2, the evidence elicited seemed to pertain more to the management of KSSB.
On day 3, when the select committee was urged to receive evidence of corrupt practices from other witnesses, they declined to do so.
So that the Standing Orders of the legislative assembly of the state of Selangor might not be disregarded, lest the select committee be the laughing stock of the nation.
What were the numbers quoted by Zahar?
500 35-ton lorries registered as 10-tonners illegally carted sand out of the area in a two-week period?
What’s this worth?
Maybe the select committee can confirm this.
Teng, trained in law, and a senior practitioner of the Malaysian Bar, in insisting that evidential material said to be proof of corruption be sacrificed in deference to the strictest compliance with house rules, appears to have lost sight of a legal maxim that is second to none. Justice must not only be done, but be manifestly seen to be done.
On 11th May, 11 PKR MPs proposed an independent body, and not Selcat, to investigate the allegations of corruption against KSSB as “Selcat cannot investigate this… state-owned company”. Malaysiakini has that report HERE.
Another legal maxim comes to mind. No man shall sit in judgment of his own cause.
I am told on good authority that you cannot make good china with poor clay, and it is so obvious that we should know it instinctively. By the same token, I expect you cannot form an effective cabinet with general election rejects. Appointing them to cabinet posts in such large numbers through the Senate is not illegal, but is it ethical? Jesse Jackson in a speech to the 1992 National Democratic Convention reminded his audience that what was morally wrong would never be politically right. Najib, as our Prime Minister, would do well to ponder and reflect on the wisdom of this self-evident truth so that he would feel encouraged and inspired to bring moral and ethical principles to bear on the governance of this nation. I naturally hope that in the process, and with God’s help, he will find some time to dwell upon his many grave lapses that have brought his fitness for the highest political office in the land into serious question.
Some months ago I had occasion to allude to the fact that no prime minister in our country’s history had come into office, bent over not with the burden of leadership which would have been understandable, but in Najib’s case, it was his oversize baggage comprising a mix of potent allegations of impropriety ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. While some may be nothing more than coffee morning tittle-tattle among the leisure classes, and, therefore, to be treated with the contempt they deserve, one worrying aspect of Najib the man that refuses to evaporate into thin air is corruption.
People still point to the arms purchases made during his long stints as Minister of Defence, and what he got out of them through his redoubtable defence/political analyst, Razak Baginda. Would the MACC care to take a look at the wealth behind the man so as to give our 1Malaysia Prime Minister a chance to clear his name? And while they are looking at Najib, I think it only fair that they take a look at the wealth of Mahathir and his family. To show that they are not being selective, they might like to check out Badawi and his family. I am sure these great leaders of ours are dying to clear their names for the sake of their reputation, however defined.
To return to the blatant abuse of the function and role of the Senate in the constitutional life of our country, it is clear that Najib does not put great store by basic rules of the game. He obviously plays by his own rules that postulate the inevitability of immoral behaviour in politics and that scruples are not for the Prime Minister of Malaysia. This is a sad commentary on 50 years of Barisan Nasional rule that has seen this once proud country now on its unstoppable decline in social, political and economic terms. Is this the promised just reward for the people of this country for putting their blind faith in the UMNO leadership? It is also a sad reflection of the bankruptcy of ethical values that those whom the people of this country, exercising their rights to choose, cast aside in a democratic process, have now been brought back into the cabinet. Who are these recycled seconds supposed to represent? Even if they were a galaxy of Nobel laureates, it would still be totally indefensible for Najib to show such utter contempt and disregard for public opinion by appointing them to the cabinet. And these are by no means the crème de la crème of Malaysian brains-those that have not disappeared overseas.
Najib plays by his own rules. For him, offering inducements to voters as played out in the Hulu Selangor by-election with a repeat performance in Sibu was par for the course. He obviously could see no contradiction in urging the people to fight corruption while he himself breaks the law with complete impunity, as always aided and abetted by the ever independent Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, so it proclaims, and the equally fearless Elections Commission. When will Najib learn that there is no substitute for integrity in national life? It is within his power to clean up his act so as to lessen the burden of the negative views and innuendos that he carries on his back to the detriment of his effectiveness as PM. He must learn quickly that the ultimate decision whether he remains in office, and his party in power, will be made by the very people for whom he has shown such blatant contempt. He may, at this rate, be the last UMNO prime minister.
RAWANG: Police have acknowledged gang activities in the Kuala Garing area where the co-ed secondary school reportedly involved in criminal activities is located.
However, police here gave the assurance that the activities have been contained and they would continue to combat the problem.
Last month a Starprobe team went undercover to talk to students, former students, parents, teachers and residents, exposing a shocking tale of triad activity, drug distribution, alcoholism, vandalism and sex crimes.
“There are criminal cases in the surrounding areas of the school. Most of the cases involve break-ins,” Gombak OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Rahim told The Star yesterday.
“However, these cases do not involve any school students,” he added.
ACP Abdul Rahim was explaining what had transpired at a meeting with Rawang Assemblyman Gan Pei Nei on Wednesday.
“In the school, there have only been three criminal cases reported until May this year.
“One was a case of a student injuring a fellow schoolmate, the other a break-in at the school office where a laptop and RM130 was stolen, and the last case being the rape of a 14-year-old girl,” he said.
He added that there were still no leads on the office break-in.
ACP Abdul Rahim said police had yet to receive reports of teachers’ vehicles being tampered with, or of teachers being blackmailed or harassed by students of the school.
“Therefore, based on our statistics and reports, we have concluded the school is a safe place.
“Nevertheless, we will still monitor the area by conducting more patrols and placing a mobile police post in that vicinity,” he said.
Gan however said: “So far, I have collected 10 complaints filed by residents of Rawang, and two copies of police reports on security concerns in the vicinity.”
She urged others to come forward if they really wanted the police and the authorities to help address the actual problem.
Gan recently met several residents and NGOs from Rawang to discuss issues at the school and in the area.
“Most residents who came were those who had personal encounters with the reported school students’ behaviour,” she said, adding that they were from Taman Garing Jaya, Taman Seri Rawang, Taman Garing, Desa Kuala Garing and Taman Velox.
Gan also said the police had told her that they were in the final stages of completing the rape investigation.
ps- leaving soon, and will be travelling for next two weeks, but will try to update as much as possible.
It’s occurred to me that the cabinet changes are the latest in a series of moves ‘back to the good old days’.
Most obvious is the selection of tired old faces – Donald Lim and Palanivel join the ranks of Koh Tsu Koon, Sharizat and other recycled politicians.
The brazen selection of Chua Soi Lek’s son for a ministership and management of over RM 2 billion in assets signal an intolerable tolerance of nepotism once again.
Amidst all this, we have Sodomy II, where we witness the same travesties of justice as we did 10 years ago.
It’s so depressing, to think that we are stuck in time like this.
Where Najib had the opportunity to be bold, we are instead rehashing scripts, recycling ‘leaders’ and going all out to be “business as usual”.
All this in some sad attempt to desperately cling on to the glory days of BN corruption.
I hope new winds will soon blow all this old rubbish away.
God knows we’re not short of talent; let’s see if goodness will sway the day, or whether we will really allow ourselves to be stuck in time.
Urged UN to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the marginalized Malaysian Indians.
Hindraf Chairman P.Waytha Moorthy met Rapporteurs/ Senior officials at the United Nations Human Rights Council based in Geneva on the 31st May 2010 together with Hindraf representatives from Geneva, Bala Chelliah and Balan Rengasamy.
An annual Human Rights Report titled Human Rights Violations Against the Ethnic Minority Malaysian Indians was submitted to the Human Rights body to enable it to understand and take further action on the particular Human Rights violations against Malaysian Indians. We had also made a formal request for UN to appoint an independent Special Rapporteur on Malaysia to report the Human Rights violations against the ethnic Malaysian Indians to the Secretary General.
Other issues of serious concern discussed were as follows:
a) The systematic and State sponsored Institutionalised marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians.
b) The fate of over 300,000 (forgotten) Internally displaced persons belonging to the ethnic Malaysian Indian community who have been uprooted from the plantation/estates without compensation, training opportunities, compensation and planned relocation/resettlement.
c) The estimated 150,000 stateless Malaysian Indians including children who are unable to attend schools and avail to medical and other welfare/state benefits and seek decent job opportunities.
d) The arbitrary detention of Human Rights Defenders and Lawyers.
e) The manipulation of the majority UMNO led Government of provisions contained in Article 153 pertaining to the Special position of the Malays to exclude the rights of other legitimate citizens and the threat of violence on any citizens who question the Malay-Muslim domination and hegemony.
f) The state control of Public and private bodies especially;
Malaysian Police
State Administration
Judiciary
Media
g) The denial of equal educational and job opportunities for Non- Malays.
h) The continuous attempt to prosecute and persecute Hindraf Lawyers especially P.Uthayakumar who is facing the prospect of a 3 year prison for writing a letter to the former UK Prime Minister on the “ethnic cleansing” of the Malaysian Indians. Uthayakumar has “served” 514 days without trial for the same “offence” during his ISA detention and now the Malaysian Government is targeting him again for this unknown offence.
We were assured that our complaints would be seriously considered and studied by the UN Special rapporteur on Contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Mr. Githu Muigai.
Hindraf also urged Country visit from the Rapporteurs for Freedom of Religion and the Human Rights Defenders.
As a further attempt to hold Malaysia accountable, Hindraf would lobby countries during its Human Rights Council sessions in future including the Israel and Germany, which strongly criticized and questioned the poor Human Rights record of Malaysia at the Universal Periodic Review in February 2009. Hindraf would lobby for members of the Human Rights Council to question Malaysia at its Human Rights review in 2011 on the unfulfilled promises and pledges Malaysia made during the periodic review in 2009.
The Anti-Samy Movement (GAS) launched a fresh attack against the embattled MIC president, claiming he is demanding a RM11,000 donation from party branches for the party-owned AIMST college, or face closure.
In an about-turn, GAS leader and former MIC deputy youth chief V Mugilan charged that party president S Samy Vellu has threatened not to give registration forms for branches to remain active if they do not cough up the money.
The charge comes barely a day after it was reported that GAS will not touch on anything related to Samy, who has held his post for nearly 30 years, at their second gathering in Klang on June 13.
Mugilan (second from right in photo) questioned Samy's motives, claiming that the college had already received an allocation of some RM300 million.
"I don't know from which ministry (which gave the allocation), but I am sure it came from the federal government," he said at a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.
But Mugilan refused to reveal what evidence he has to back his claim, saying only that GAS found out about the "donation" drive from a court case.
Waiting on Samy
He added that GAS will not lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
"We want to wait for an answer from him first, how much (has been collected from MIC leaders). If there is no reaction from him, it means something is not right.
"We just want to show party supporters who Samy Vellu really is," he said.
Mugilan, who was booted out from MIC last month for demanding Samy's immediate resignation, organised the first GAS rally last Sunday in a bid to whip up public support to pressure the president to step down within the month.
Some 3,500 out of some 15,000 expected turned up at the Mines Convention Centre for the rally, which Mugilan called a success despite "gangster tactics" to derail the event.
Mugilan later double-backed on his GAS attack on Wednesday, filing an appeal against his sacking ,promising that Samy can "sleep well" as they will not touch on anything related to him at their June 13 rally at Dewan Hamzah, Klang.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is keeping everyone guessing on whether it will take up the offer to interview private investigator P Balasubramaniam in London next month.
MACC will announce its decision in due time, its investigation director Mustafar Ali said, without elaborating any further.
“I try to focus on my press conference today, on givers (of bribes). I believe if I were to mention PI Bala, it's going to be highlighted tomorrow,” he said in Putrajaya after announcing figures on arrests made as at May 31 thuis year.
“After we decide, we will inform. That's our promise,” Mustafar added.
Last month, lawyers for Balasubramaniam (left) emailed an invitation to the MACC to send officers over to London to interview the private investigator in connection with their probe into the sensational murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Balasubramaniam had made a startling revelation in his statutory declaration in July 2008 pertaining to the murder of Altantuya, only to retract it a day later.
The declaration had stated that the then deputy prime minister, Najib Abdul Razak, was the one who introduced Altantuya to political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda.
Razak was charged with abetment to murder but was later freed by the court.
The private investigator had also alleged that Najib's younger brother Nazim was involved in his retraction of the statutory declaration, which is the subject of this MACC investigation.
This morning, Americk Sidhu, one of Balasubramaniam's three legal counsel, sent an email reminder to MACC investigating officer Abdul Rahman Bachok that the invitation still stands, and also asked for MACC to confirm if it was accepting the offer.
Room booked
Americk (right) said a conference room has been booked at the Holiday Villas Hotel in Leinster Gardens, Bayswater, for July 5 and 6 for the MACC to interview Balasubramaniam.
“I would be most obliged if you could respond to this email promptly as there are rumours abounding that the MACC will refuse to attend our arranged interview.
“I, however, do not believe for one moment that your department will turn down this opportunity to interview my client, bearing in mind the contents of the press statements made by some of the senior officers in your department concerning the interest in interviewing my client 'anytime and anywhere', and of course the gravity of the allegations made against some of our leaders and their immediate families,” Americk said in his email.
He added that over the course of the interview, he, along with counsel Manjeet Singh Dhillon and witnessing counsel Amarjit Singh Sidhu, would be present with Balasubramaniam.
Balasubramaniam made headline news in July 2008 after he issued a statutory declaration linking Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor to Altantuya's gruesome killing with the use of explosives.
A day later, he issued a second statutory declaration to say that he was forced to sign the first declaration under duress and that he wanted to retract its contents.
It was more than a year before the elusive private investigator scorched the headlines again, in November 2009, when he claimed he had to issue the second statutory declaration after threats were made against his family.
It was also around this time that his lawyers first made the offer to arrange an interview with MACC officers to take Balasubramaniam's statement as part of their investigation into claims of corruption related to the Mongolian's murder.
Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, Altantuya's former lover and one of three accused in her murder, was acquitted of the charges in October 2008 while co-accused police officers chief inspector Azilah Hadri and corporal Sirul Azhar Umar were sentenced to death by the High Court in April last year.
Yet again R. Aruljothi (25), another Indian was suspected to be murdered by the Kluang prison personnel within the fourth month of his imprisonment. Why is it always the Indians who either are killed in police or prison custody or are simply shot dead by the police up to the tune of 95% of such victims when they form a mere 8% of the Malaysian population? A Malaysian Human Rights Commissioner in 2008 has conceded that an estimated 60% of the prison and police lock ups inmates are Indians when they form only a mere 8% of the Malaysian population.
The Human Resources Minister said in Parliament recently that 200,000 Indian youth are involved in crime. This is alarming sum – 60% of whom are at risk. The problem is acute and requires multi faceted intervention to turn around. There are many studies done, but very little in the form of positive educated action. All that is happening to improve the crime situation in the country is increased police killings. (Malaysian Indian Minority & Human Rights Violations Annual Report 2009 Malay-sia Truly Racist 7th – 9th January 2010.)
Then the UMNO government spend billions building extra prisons. RM 165 million plus another RM 54.7 million to complete the building of a prison after 11 years and on a 42 hectare site. It was originally meant to accommodate 1,500 inmates but it is now reduced to 500 male and 150 female prisoners (NST 22/10/08 at page 16).
The crime rate gangsterism and other social ills among the Indian poor is escalating because of UMNO’s social engineering and by UMNO excluding the Indians from the national mainstream development of Malaysia, UMNO denying Indians equal rights, equal opportunities and equal upward mobility opportunities.
P. Uthayakumar
Because of poverty arising out of UMNO’s direct discrimination and exclusion of Indians from the national mainstream development of Malaysia, of especially the Indian poor, there is an alarmingly high level of orphaned Indian children.
These children end up and live in cramped living conditions (See SH 30/5/10). Not conducive for learning and growing up in mostly private Indian individuals run orphanages. These Indians have to beg for money from the working class and petty traders if not already poor Indians for the upkeep of these orphanages.
Not in any part of the world except in UMNO Malay-sian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s One Malay-sia, the ethnicity of orphans matters. Only the Malay muslim orphans get the full government sponsored facilities and funding.
The Indian orphans have to end up in run down, cramped up and unconducive private Indian orphanages who would be lucky if they get some peanuts after much begging and prostrating on UMNO’s feet.
There is something seriously wrong in the religious upbringing of the major communities in Malaysia. For no religion condones discrimination among orphans.
P. Uthayakumar
Just a short while ago a parent Madam Kalarani telephoned us to complain that she and her family and daughter Deborah Anne a/p John Philip are upset as despite having scored 13A in Science stream she was denied a JPA scholarship, Matriculation and University place or to peruse a medical degree or any other critical courses (See result slip below). And UMNO now tells us this young Indian student that she could appeal. But our point is how could and why should she be rejected in the first place with 13As’!
This is not the first time this is happening. At least 375 SPM high achieving students scored 8A1s (Tamil Nesan 12th July 2008, page 5) but did not get a scholarship. Remawathy the 6th best student in the country with 13As was denied a PSD scholarship (NST Focus 22nd July 2008, page 33). In fact this very same problem that is and has been recurring year in and year out in at least the last 35 years.
The fact that these people do not take their problems to BN parties but to HRP shows that they have lost faith with the government.
What do you call this if not UMNO racial discrimination of the highest order? This level of racism does not happen in any other part of the world except in Malay-sian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s One Malay-sia.
S. Jayathas
They are not doing this with East- timor delegates but it is just piece of low class mentality that they want to show other. This country will appear as Pakistan , Sudan and Somalia one day.
Press Statement 4th June 2010. 
Rights violations against the ethnic Malaysian Indians to the Secretary General. 
f) The state control of Public and private bodies especially; 
strongly criticized and questioned the poor Human Rights record of Malaysia at the Universal Periodic Review in February 2009. Hindraf would lobby for members of the Human Rights Council to question Malaysia at its Human Rights review in 2011 on the unfulfilled promises and pledges Malaysia made during the periodic review in 2009. 
The Pakatan-friendly party has two seats - a state seat (Kota Damansara in Selangor) as well as a parliament seat (Sungai Siput in Perak) - which it won at the 2008 general election under the PKR banner as PSM had not yet been formally registered at the time.
PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan (right in photo) said that while the party was critical of Pakatan's “BN-type fishing for votes”, he was quick to stress that the motion is not meant to damage Pakatan.
“Probably Pakatan is too election-oriented until it cannot move actively and aggressively after the unprecedented good result in the 2008 general election.”
By Charlie Rudai - Free Malaysia Today,
The charge comes barely a day after it was reported that GAS will not touch on anything related to Samy, who has held his post for nearly 30 years, at their second gathering in Klang on June 13.
Mugilan, who was booted out from MIC last month for demanding Samy's immediate resignation, organised the first GAS rally last Sunday in a bid to whip up public support to pressure the president to step down within the month.
Last month, lawyers for Balasubramaniam (left) emailed an invitation to the MACC to send officers over to London to interview the private investigator in connection with their probe into the sensational murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
